Method of packing heat pipes within a pipe pile involving the vibration of the packing material

ABSTRACT

A pair of heat pipes are placed within the interior of a pipe pile which has been grouted within an earth borehole. A predetermined amount of water is metered into the bottom of the interior of the pipe pile and then dry sand is added to the water. Various means are disclosed for vibrating the sand and water mixture including the vibration of the heat pipes and/or the vibration of the pipe pile.

United States Patent 1 [111 3,898,851

Wyant 1*Aug. 12, 1975 [54] METHOD OF PACKING HEAT PIPES 3,217,79111/1965 Long 165/45 WITHIN A PIPE PILE INVOLVING THE 3,839,874 10/1974Wyant 61/5352 B I E KI MA ERI VI RAT 0N 0F TH PAC NG T AL FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [75] Inventor Reece wyant Houston 706,239 3 1954United Kingdom 61 /53.52 [73] Assignee: Dresser Industries, Inc.,Dallas, Tex.

[ Notice: The portion of the term of this Primary Examiner-Jacob Shapiropatent subsequent to Oct. 8, 1991, Attorney, Agent, or Firm-William E.Johnson, Jr.

has been disclaimed.

[22] Filed: Aug. 12, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 496,412

[ 5 7 ABSTRACT A pair of heat pipes are placed within the interior of apipe pile which has been grouted within an earth bore- [ifi] }J.S. 2 0hole. A predetermined amount of water is metered 1 l into the bottom ofthe interior of the pipe pile, and

[58] Field of 2 then dry sand is added to the water. Various means l aredisclosed for vibrating the sand and water mixture including thevibration of the heat pipes and/or the vi- [561 References Cited brationof the pipe pile.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,718,761 9/1955 Steverman 61/36 R 7 Claims, 3Drawing Figures VI BRATOR 20k 21 WA T E R [1 SAN D [1 s W &

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PATENTEU mi 21975 FIG.

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VIBRATOR SAND FIG.

WATER METHOD OF PACKING HEAT PIPES WITHIN A PIPE PILE INVOLVING THEVIBRATION OF THE PACKING MATERIAL RELATED APPLICATION This applicationrelates to my co-pending US. Pat. application Ser. No. 396,934, forMETHOD OF GROUTING A PILE IN A HOLE INVOLVING THE VIBRATION OF THEGROUTING MATERIAL", filed on Sept. 13, 1973 and now US. Pat. No.3,839,874.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to thepacking of one or more heat pipes within the interior of a pipe pile,and particularly relates to the packing of such heat pipes within theinterior of a pipe pile while vibrating the packing material.

As described in the aforementioned related United States patentapplication, it has been proposed to build various pipelines acrossAlaska which will have piles grouted in place within holes using amixture of sand and water in the annulus external to the pipe pile. Ithas also been proposed that a sand and water mixture be used to pack theheat pipes within the interior of the pipe pile to provide heat pipestabilization of the pipe pile. This general area has been discussed inUS. Pat. No. 3,788,389, for PERMAFROST STRUCTURAL SUPPORT WITH HEAT PIPESTABILIZATION which issued on Jan. 29, 1974. It should be appreciated,moreover, that much of the construction work on these pipelines will bedone under extremely frigid temperature conditions, for example, 60F.These extreme conditions create problems with icing of the water beingused and bridging within the interior of the pipe pile when pouring asand and water mixture therein. Furthermore, it has been discovered thateven while vibrating the mixture, the mixture will sometimes not becompacted around the heat pipe to such a degree as to create asatisfactory packing of the heat pipe within the interior of the pipepile.

It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide anew and improved method of packing a heat pipe within the interior of apipe pile;

It is also an object of the invention to provide a new and improvedmethod of packing one or more heat pipes within the interior of a pipepile which eliminates many of the problems encountered while using waterin subfreezing temperature conditions; and

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide new andimproved methods for vibrating the packing material used in packing aheat pipe within the interior of a pipe pile.

The objects of the invention are accomplished, in general, by a methodof packing one or more-heat pipes within the interior of a pipe pilewhich involves the placement of such heat pipes within the interior ofthe pipe pile, the addition of water to such interior and then theaddition of sand to the interior and the vibration of the packingmaterial which causes the sand and water mixture to be fluidized alongthe length of the in terior of the pipe pile.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be more readily understood from a reading of thefollowing detailed specification and drawing, in which: i

FIG. 1 is an elevated view, partly in cross section, of a pipe pilewhich has been grouted within an earth borehole in accordance with themethods disclosed in my aforementioned United States patent application;

FIG. 2 is an elevated view, partly in cross section, which illustratesapparatus for vibrating the heat pipes and for adding water and sand tothe interior of the pipe pile in accordance with the present invention;and

FIG. 3 illustrates, in elevation and partly in cross section, the heatpipes which have been packed within the interior of the pipe pile inaccordance with the methods according to the present invention.

Referring now to the drawing in more detail, especially to FIG. 1, thereis illustrated a hole 10 in the earth 11 which may be either aconventional earth for mation, or may be comprised of permafrost in themore frigid zones of the earth, for example, in Alaska. A steel pipepile 12 is grouted within the hole 10 in accordance with the principlesof my aforementioned related United States patent application. The pipepile 12 is grouted within the hole 10 by a compacted sand and watermixture 13. As is explained in the aforementioned related application,the pipe pile 12 may or may not have a bottom end plug at its lowerextremity.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a pair of heat pipes 20 and 21 separated by oneor more separators 22 along their length are placed within the interiorof the pipe pile 12. It should be appreciated that the heat pipesthemselves are conventional and may take several forms, for example, asillustrated and described in US. Pat. No. 3,788,389. Alternatively, heatpipes such as Model 13331-1 available from the Hughes Electron DynamicsDivision, 3100 West Lomita Blvd, Torrance, California 90509 can be used.A vibrator 23 is attached to the top portion of the heat pipes 20 and 21to vibrate such heat pipes along their length. A source of water 24 anda source of sand 25 are provided for placing water and sand into theinterior of the pipe pile 12.

In practicing the method in accordance with the apparatus illustrated inFIG. 2, the heat pipes 20 and 21 are placed inside the interior of thepipe pile 12 and water 26 is then metered into the interior of the pipepile 12 from the water source 24 in a predetermined amount which isdetermined by the area of the interior of the pipe pile along the entirelength of the pipe pile 12 and by the amount of water as is desired inthe final sand and water mixture. By way of example, a recommendedpacking mixture should have a water content of 8% to 15% by dry weight.The 15% water content has been found to be highly desirable in that themixture is highly fluidized during at least a portion of the methodaccording to the present invention.

After the water 26 is added to the interior of the pipe pile l2 and isresiding in the bottom of the pipe pile, the dry sand is added to theinterior of the pipe pile 12 from the sand source 25 and the vibrator 23is used to vibrate the heat pipes 20 and 21 which in turn causes thesand and water mixture to vibrate. Because of the important feature ofadding the water to the interior of the pipe pile first, no air bubblesare found within the sand and water mixture as would be the case ifeither the sand was added first or if the sand and water slurry wasmixed prior to adding the mixture to the interior of the pipe pile. Byplacing the water in the interior first, and by vibrating the sand andwater mixture, it has been found that there is an excellent adherence ofthe sand and water mixture to the interior of the pipe pile and to theheat pipes themselves.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the pipe pile 12 is illustrated as beinggrouted in place by the grouting material 13 and the heat pipes and 21are illustrated as being packed within the interior of the pipe pile 12by the packed sand and water mixture 27 as discussed above with respectto FIG. 2.

Although not illustrated, a protective casing can be used along thelength of the hole between the grouting material 13 and the earthformation 11 as desired.

Thus it should be appreciated that there have been described herein thepreferred embodiments of the present invention wherein various methodsare described relating to the packing of one or more heat pipes withinthe interior of a pipe pile within an earth borehole. Although thepreferred embodiments contemplate the use of sand, the word sand is tobe construed in a generic sense and it is contemplated that varioussand-like materials or minerals can be used in place of the conventionalsilica sand. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that even though thepreferred embodiments contemplate the the sand/water mixture be vibratedcommencing with the addition of the sand to the water, those skilled inthe art will recognize that a given amount of sand can be added to thewater before commencing the vibration step. Likewise, after thevibration has ceased, dry sand can, if desired, be added to the very topof the interior of the pipe pile 12. Likewise, although the preferredembodiment contemplates that the heat pipes be placed within theinterior of the pipe pile and then the water added to such interior,those skilled in the art will recognize that the water can be added tothe interior of the pipe pile first and then the heat pipes placedwithin the pipe pile without departing from the spirit of the invention.Likewise, those skilled in the art will recognize that, on occasion,there may already be some amount of water within the interior of thepipe pile for various reasons and that a smaller amount of water,perhaps zero, need be added to the interior of the pipe pile beforeadding sand. Furthermore, the sand and water mixture can be vibrated byother means, for example, by vibrating the pipe pile itself or byinserting a vibrating rod into the sand and water mixture.

It should also be appreciated that while the preferred embodimentcontemplates that the pipe pile is first grouted in place within anearth borehole in accordance with the principles of my aforementionedrelated United States patent application, it should be appreciated thatboth the grouting of the pipe pile within the earth borehole and thepacking of the heat pipes within the interior of the pipe pile can beaccomplished in a single step. Thus, by adding water to the annulusexterior to the pipe pile and also to the interior of the pipe pilehaving the heat pipes therein and by shortly thereafter adding sand tothe annulus exterior to the pipe pile and to the interior of the pipepile while vibrating the pipe pile, the pipe pile is thus grouted withinthe earth borehole simultaneously with the packing of the heat pipeswithin the interior of the pipe pile.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

l. A method of packing at least one heat pipe within a pipe pile,comprising:

placing at least one heat pipe within the interior of said pipe pile;metering a predetermined amount of water into the interior of said pipepile; placing sand in said water to form a sand and water mixture aftersaid water is in place in the bottom of said pipe pile; and vibratingsaid sand and water mixture, said mixture having enough water to remainfluidized during said vibration. 2. The method according to claim 1wherein said at least one heat pipe comprises a pair of heat pipes.

3. A method of packing at least one heat pipe within a pipe pile,comprising:

placing at least one heat pipe within the interior of said pipe pile;

adding water to the interior of said pipe pile;

adding sand to said water to form a sand and water mixture within theinterior of said pipe pile after said water is in place in the bottom ofsaid pipe pile; and

vibrating said sand and water mixture, said mixture having enough waterto remain fluidized during said vibration.

4. A method of packing at least one heat pipe within the interior of apipe pile, comprising:

placing at least one heat pipe within the interior of a P p pile;

adding water to the interior of said pipe pile;

adding sand to said water to form a sand and water mixture within theinterior of said pipe pile after said water is inplace in the bottom ofsaid pipe pile; and

vibrating said sand and water mixture as said sand is added, saidmixture having enough water to remain fluidized during said vibration.

. 5. A method of packing at least one heat pipe within the interior of apipe pile, comprising:

placing at least one heat pipe within the interior of a P p P addingwater to the interior of said pipe pile; adding sand to said water toform a sand and water mixture within the interior of said pipe pileafter said water is in place in the bottom of said pipe pile; andvibrating said at least one heat pipe while said sand is being added tosaid water, said mixture having enough water to remain fluidized duringsaid vibration. 6. A method of packing at least one heat pipe within theinterior of a pipe pile, comprising:

placing a heat pipe within the interior of a pipe pile; adding water tothe interior of said pipe pile; adding sand to said water to form a sandand water mixture within the interior of said pipe pile after said wateris in place in the bottom of said pipe pile; vibrating said sand andwater mixture; and ceasing to vibrate said sand and water mixture whilesaid mixture is still fluidized. 7. A method of packing at least oneheat pipe within the interior of a pipe pile, comprising:

placing at least one heat pipe within the interior of a pipe pile;adding water to the interior of said pipe pile; adding sand to saidwater to form a sand and water -mixture within the interior of said pipepile after said water is in place in the bottom of said pipe pile;vibrating said at least one heat pipe while said sand is being added tosaid water; and ceasing to vibrate said at least one heat pipe short ofadding sand in such an amount that said sand and water mixture would nolonger be fluidized.

1. A method of packing at least one heat pipe within a pipe pile,comprising: placing at least one heat pipe within the interior of saidpipe pile; metering a predetermined amount of water into the interior ofsaid pipe pile; placing sand in said water to form a sand and watermixture after said water is in place in the bottom of said pipe pile;and vibrating said sand and water mixture, said mixture having enoughwater to remain fluidized during said vibration.
 2. The method accordingto claim 1 wherein said at least one heat pipe comprises a pair of heatpipes.
 3. A method of packing at least one heat pipe within a pipe pile,comprising: placing at least one heat pipe within the interior of saidpipe pile; adding water to the interior of said pipe pile; adding sandto said water to form a sand and water mixture within the interior ofsaid pipe pile after said water is in place in the bottom of saId pipepile; and vibrating said sand and water mixture, said mixture havingenough water to remain fluidized during said vibration.
 4. A method ofpacking at least one heat pipe within the interior of a pipe pile,comprising: placing at least one heat pipe within the interior of a pipepile; adding water to the interior of said pipe pile; adding sand tosaid water to form a sand and water mixture within the interior of saidpipe pile after said water is in place in the bottom of said pipe pile;and vibrating said sand and water mixture as said sand is added, saidmixture having enough water to remain fluidized during said vibration.5. A method of packing at least one heat pipe within the interior of apipe pile, comprising: placing at least one heat pipe within theinterior of a pipe pile; adding water to the interior of said pipe pile;adding sand to said water to form a sand and water mixture within theinterior of said pipe pile after said water is in place in the bottom ofsaid pipe pile; and vibrating said at least one heat pipe while saidsand is being added to said water, said mixture having enough water toremain fluidized during said vibration.
 6. A method of packing at leastone heat pipe within the interior of a pipe pile, comprising: placing aheat pipe within the interior of a pipe pile; adding water to theinterior of said pipe pile; adding sand to said water to form a sand andwater mixture within the interior of said pipe pile after said water isin place in the bottom of said pipe pile; vibrating said sand and watermixture; and ceasing to vibrate said sand and water mixture while saidmixture is still fluidized.
 7. A method of packing at least one heatpipe within the interior of a pipe pile, comprising: placing at leastone heat pipe within the interior of a pipe pile; adding water to theinterior of said pipe pile; adding sand to said water to form a sand andwater mixture within the interior of said pipe pile after said water isin place in the bottom of said pipe pile; vibrating said at least oneheat pipe while said sand is being added to said water; and ceasing tovibrate said at least one heat pipe short of adding sand in such anamount that said sand and water mixture would no longer be fluidized.